Uncertain
Intelligence
How do we program AI to see the world through human
eyes? Uncertainty may be the answer.
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BY MARTY GRAHAM
Forty years ago, Star Trek creators foresaw the
unintended consequences of artificial intelligence. It
began innocently enough, when the Captain Kirk-led
crew chased V’Ger across the galaxy, trying to halt it
as it destroyed the civilizations it encountered. When
they caught V’Ger, however, they discovered it was
Voyager 6, a U.S. launched space probe believed lost
that instead had reprogrammed itself to a higher
level of intelligence. V’Ger had intelligently worked
a twist into its own mission of finding civilizations: It
destroyed the civilizations it found.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAVIER PÉREZ